


Summer Lovin'

by Reyn



Series: One Direction [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Beach, Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Summer Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-13
Updated: 2014-09-13
Packaged: 2018-02-17 04:51:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2297201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reyn/pseuds/Reyn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summer is over and Zuko is pining.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Summer Lovin'

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt called for summer rain. My mind went in the direction of the first song in the hit musical Grease. I may have also listened to One Direction's Summer Love for angsty Zuko inspiration.

Zuko made it a point to jump out of the car the second his sister put it in park.

“Stop moping and move on with your life!” Azula shouted after him. “It’s your senior year!”

Zuko didn’t bother to dignify any of that with a response. It was the official start of a new school year, and he had every intention of actually following that advice. Only, it didn’t count as  _advice_  since he had planned to do just that way before Azula ever said it.

He nodded to his sister’s friends as he passed them by, hardly noticing the way they barely spared a glance at Azula’s sleek red car before choosing to follow him instead.

“Hey, Zuko!” Ty Lee greeted, her light brown braid bouncing as she popped up by his shoulder. “How was Ember Island? You look like you spent the whole summer locked away at the gym rather than the beach.”

Zuko scowled at her before remembering he was supposed to be moving on with his life. That probably meant being agreeable in a social setting and stuff.

“They had equipment down on the beach. And I wore lots of sunscreen.” He casted a pointed look at Azula’s approaching figure, hoping they’d notice how pale she still was as well.

“That sounds fun!”

“A total blast,” Mai added from Zuko’s other side, her dry tone throwing Ty Lee’s optimistic comment into sarcasm territory.

“No, I’m serious!” Ty Lee insisted. “Since it’s out in the open  _and_  at the beach, you probably got to meet a lot of interesting people.”

“Unless it was raining,” Mai pointed out.

 

_Steam rose from his skin as he forced his body to finish the set of reps. The rain was freezing, but he didn’t care. It was the fifth fight he’d had with his father since they had started this stupid vacation and he if he didn’t work out his frustrations somehow, he was going to explode._

_Once done, he stood and wiped the sand from his hands. He gave himself to the count of twenty to recover and eyed the high bar, wondering how many pull-ups he could do before forced to declare exhaustion and go home. Apparently, the number was zero, because when he jumped up to grab it, his grip slipped right off and he fell flat on his back, the wind knocked out of him._

 

“You’re kidding, right?” Azula demanded as she caught up with the group. “Being out at the beach while it was raining was the only way Zuko made any friends at all this summer.”

Mai pulled a face. “What? Like overly buff gymrats?”

Azula’s laughter was far too mocking for Zuko’s liking. He figured it was time to make his exit.

 

_He didn’t even have a chance to contemplate just staying there, drowning in the weather while sprawled out on the sandy pavement before a face blocked out the rain above him. She had light brown skin, thickly braided hair, and large pale blue eyes._

_“Are you okay?”_

 

“No, our little Zuzu met a girl!”

His feet didn’t move him away fast enough to avoid hearing the shocked gasps that accompanied Azula’s exclamation. He was fairly certain Mai was glaring at him as well, because the tips of his ears were burning. They’d been an on-again off-again thing since sophomore year, but despite the breaks, they never really dated anyone else. Well, not seriously anyways. Their fathers would never let them.

With Katara, though…despite it only being a summer fling, Zuko had felt like he had been breaking all sorts of rules just by being with her.

 

_“Who’re they? Your parents?”_

_Zuko stiffened. He had been locked in a staring contest with his father from across the restaurant for the last ten minutes, oblivious to Katara and the rest of their group in his silent battle of wills._

_Sensing his discomfort, Katara pulled out from under his arm. The movement caused Zuko to abruptly break eye contact with his father and look over at Katara with mild alarm. She offered him a reassuring smile in return._

_“Yeah,” he finally answered, slouching back against their booth._

_“Should we go say hello?”_

_“No!” His exclamation had garnered everyone’s attention at the table. “We…aren’t on the best of terms right now.”_

_“Say no more, we totally understand.” Katara’s brother nodded sagely. “A couple years ago, Katara gave our dad the cold shoulder for a month after he got back from this business trip—”_

_“Shut up, Sokka, no one needs to hear that story.”_

_A soft smile graced Zuko’s face and he could feel himself relaxing. “Actually, I think I might like to hear it,” he said, returning his arm to its place around Katara’s shoulders, pulling her close as she sunk down in her seat with a groan._

 

As he hunted down his new locker, Zuko waved to the few familiar faces he was well enough acquainted with to warrant a return greeting, and did his best to keep up with the ones he barely recognized. Long, wavy brown hair disappearing around a corner caused him to do a double take, and he cursed himself for the spike his heart rate seemed to take.

He needed a distraction. More friends. A better social life. Something.

“Hey, Haru.”

Haru blinked at him and looked around before returning the greeting. “Hey…Zuko.”

Zuko frowned at the hesitance and crossed his arms defensively. “What?”

“Are you…” Haru seemed to steel himself before plowing on. “Look, there’s no nice way to put it, so I’ll just be blunt. Are you being nice because it’s our senior year? Or because Azula put you up to it?”

Zuko’s arms dropped. “I was never mean to you.”

“No,” Haru agreed. “But your sister is. You’ve always been…indifferent.”

 

_“What are these?”_

_“Flowers. For you.” Zuko’s eyes widened. “Is it too cold for flowers to exist in—”_

_“I get that they’re flowers, jerk,” Katara cut him off playfully. “I meant why are you trying to woo me with them? I didn’t peg you as the type.”_

_Zuko’s brow furrowed, wondering if he should be offended by that. Katara was right in saying he wasn’t really a flowers kind of guy, but for her, he wanted to make the effort._

_“I just wanted to thank you for dragging me out to surf yesterday. And for putting up with my bad mood when I failed to get the hang of it instead of stomping off like most people would have done.” He paused, fighting back the blush he could feel forming on his cheeks. “And for buying me dinner afterwards to show you still liked me.”_

_Katara laughed far louder than the situation probably called for and stepped closer to put her free arm around his neck._

_“Of course I still like you. I’d say wild tiger seals couldn’t keep me away, but I kind of enjoy the idea of you being extra sweet when you feel guilty about something.”_

_Zuko grinned, his hands coming up to rest on Katara’s hips. “Yeah?”_

_Instead of responding, Katara pulled him down for a kiss._

_Their first of many._

 

“Yeah, well, I’m turning over a new leaf,” Zuko stated warily. “Do you want to be friends or not?”

“Uh, sure.” Haru pivoted on his heel and began to walk with Zuko. “So, how was your summer?” he asked, after a moment of only slightly awkward silence.

“Fine.”

“Do anything fun?”

Zuko shrugged. “Sure.”

“Is this friendship going to consist mostly of one-word answers?”

“Probably.”

“Great…” Haru sighed.

When Zuko finally found his locker, he noticed he was alone.

 

_“So, in the most oogieless way possible, tell me why you want to date my sister.”_

_Zuko frowned. “Oogieless? What does that even—”_

_“No, no! You cannot answer a question with a question!” Sokka interrupted, shaking both his head and hands. “That’s against the rules.”_

_“What rules?” Zuko’s eyes darted in the direction of the beach’s restrooms, where Katara had wandered off in._

_“The rules of interrogation.”_

_Zuko stared at Sokka for a moment before deciding he owed the boy his honesty._

_“I like her, but I don’t see this continuing once our vacations are over. I can’t do a long distance relationship.”_

_Sokka dismissed the answer so casually, Zuko found himself slightly confused._

_“Yeah, no, I get that, but that’s not what I’m asking. Those are future plans, and that’s understandable. You’re obviously the kind of guy who thinks ahead. I like that. But I want to know about now.”_

_“Now?” Zuko echoed blankly._

_“Yes. Because, see, Katara and I have made a few friends here, but to be honest, I don’t really like those friends enough to hang out with them all the time, so I figured maybe I would branch out to my sister’s fling.”_

_Zuko scowled at being labeled as a fling._

_“But I don’t think either of us would be comfortable being friends if the only reason you were with Katara is because you wanted to bone her all the time.”_

_Zuko could feel his face heating up at an alarming rate. “I—no! We haven’t even—not that I don’t—I like her as a person! I wouldn’t ever take advantage of her like that.”_

_Sokka grinned broadly._

_“Unless she wanted me to, of course.”_

_The smile fell away and Sokka punched him in the shoulder._

_But apparently Zuko passed the test, because he now had a new friend._

 

Sokka had been fine with his less-than approachable attitude. It made him an easy target for Sokka’s teasing, something he probably wouldn’t have put up with if it hadn’t made Katara laugh and stay that much closer to his side.

As a trio, they fit together in a way Zuko couldn’t help but marvel at. His main example of a circle of friends had been Azula with Ty Lee and Mai, and his sister treated them like minions more often than not. But what Zuko had with Katara and Sokka was different. It was nice.

“Hey, Chan. How’s—”

“Get bent, Sozin.”

But the problem was, he had no idea how to create something similar on his own here at school.

 

_Zuko trudged up the steep hill, shivering in the early morning cloud coverage. Katara had promised they weren’t going surfing today, so he had no idea why he was expected to be at her place before the air had a proper chance to warm up._

_Shoving his hands deeper into his pockets, he looked up to locate which of the three-story beach houses was hers. He soon spotted the one with the glass balcony, and to his surprise, two figures were up there, moving in tandem._

_Slowing to a stop, Zuko was able to identify them as Katara and what was probably her grandmother, doing a set of tai-chi exercises._

_He watched, fascinated by how in sync they were despite the age difference. Suddenly, Katara’s moves branched off and grew more complicated. Zuko’s jaw dropped at the way her body twisted and darted about, as if dancing around an invisible opponent._

_Her bright blue sports bra became a hypnotic spot of color against the neutral tones of the house and her skin as she continued to weave about before stumbling to an abrupt stop when she nearly barreled into her grandmother._

_After a quick hug in apology, Katara whirled around and waved, and Zuko realized she had known he was there. Watching._

_He suddenly felt far too warm in his jacket._

_As Katara disappeared from the balcony, Zuko continued his way over, stopping by the property’s front gate just as Katara emerged from the front door._

_“What’d you think?” she asked, making her way down the flight of stairs and through the tiny yard’s front landscaping to let Zuko in._

_Zuko’s eyes scanned her bare torso, which was glistening with sweat. Those forms were either a lot harder than she let on, or where she lived really was as cold as the stereotyped rumors stated. “I think you were showing off.”_

_“If I were showing off, there would have been a sword in my hand.”_

_“You know how to fight like that?” Zuko’s eyebrows shot up in surprise._

_Katara’s grin was sharp. “Why? Want to spar?”_

_Zuko took a step forward, smirking when Katara refused to back away as he entered her space. “Maybe.”_

 

“Hey.”

Zuko barely glanced over at the slender form that owned such a monotone voice. “Hey.”

After walking side-by-side for several steps, Mai broke their usual silence. “Well?”

“Well what?”

“Aren’t you going to tell me about her?”

There was no need to clarify just whom Mai was demanding about.

“No.”

Mai stopped short, clearly not expecting that to be his answer. “Why not?”

“Because—” she’s mine. I don’t want to want to share her with anyone. “—it’s rude to kiss and tell.”

“You kissed her??”

 

_They were both dripping wet and completely covered in sand._

_“That…was quite possibly the worst idea ever.” Zuko complained sourly, his words sounding far too loud for how late it was. He immediately lowered his voice so the houses wouldn’t echo it. “I can’t believe I even listened to you.”_

_Katara, on the other hand, looked beyond elated._

_“They were real! And we almost_ rode _one!”_

 _Zuko scoffed. “That was_ not _riding one. That was being painfully rejected—”_

_“Zuko, you don’t understand! Down South, giant koi of that size are a complete myth!”_

_“We flew through the air! And crash landed on someone’s campfire!” Zuko complained. “My back is probably burned; how are you happy about any of this?”_

_“How are you not?” Katara countered, only to immediately shush him once they reached her house._

_“Sokka’s going to laugh at me for days,” Zuko grumbled, stopping when Katara walked around the front steps instead of up them. “Where are you going?”_

_A light flickered on from underneath the stairs. Moving to the side, Zuko saw a curtain hanging from the side of the staircase. Katara smiled and pushed it aside, revealing a storage area for surfboards, wetsuits, and the like. And against the wall of the house, was a showerhead._

_“It’s not as fancy as your fancy outdoor shower area,” Katara admitted, leading him inside and shutting the curtain behind them. “But it offers a lot more privacy.”_

_“How much privacy do you need to rinse sand off your body?”_

_Katara’s brow quirked._

_“Some of us don’t like bathing while clothed,” she whispered as she brushed by him to turn on the water._

_Facing the jet of water, Katara waited for it to adjust to a bearable temperature before reaching behind her to pull at the strings that held her bikini top together._

_Zuko’s mouth went dry._

 

“It was a summer fling,” Zuko pointed out. “Of course I kissed her.”

 

_He was barely aware of the water cascading down on both of them. His lips were locked on hers, determined to swallow every last one of her gasps and moans. His right hand was kneading her breast almost on autopilot while his left tried to touch every other inch of skin._

_Katara actions were just as desperate. She kept alternating between gripping his hair, dragging her nails across his shoulders and back when her knees grew too weak, and running her palms down his torso to try and shove his swimming trunks off without bothering to undo the knot first._

_“Zuko, get these off. Now.”_

_Trying to actually untie the knot nearly proved to be just as feeble of a task as shoving the secured trunks off._

_While he was distracted, Katara took the opportunity to explore his velcroed pockets, pulling out the condom Azula had planted several days back during a streak of particularly vicious teasing._

_Zuko froze. “Uhm…”_

_His trunks fell to the floor._

_At the sound of the wrapper being torn open, Zuko’s heart began to pound hard enough to feel the echo of it in his very lungs._

_“Katara…”_

_“Tell me you want this, too.”_

_Zuko twitched as she began to roll the condom on, causing her to jump and laugh._

_“Sorry,” he breathed out with a chuckle, wrapping his arms around her and drawing her in close as his answer. “Are you sure about—”_

_Katara pressed herself against him, lifting one leg up to his hip. Zuko immediately took the hint and hoisted her up._

_“Yes,” she responded, reaching between them and positioning him. “Yes, yes, yes.”_

_And with the slide of her body, he was inside of her and gone to the rest of the world._

 

“You’re really something else, you know that?” Mai accused with a shake of her head before turning around to storm off.

Zuko watched her leave, knowing at some point he would have to go after her. Summer was over and he was fully expected to return his attentions back to Mai, something his father made clear when he saw the scratches and burn mark two days after they had happened.

As much as he had hated that particular lecture, he knew his father was right. He had gone into this knowing he wouldn’t be allowed to let it continue. They were from completely different worlds.

So as Katara’s vacation neared its end, Zuko purposely avoided asking for either siblings’ email. There was no point in trying to stay friends when what he had with Katara was something above and to the left of simple friendship.

They did exchange twitter handles, though.

Katara had insisted, saying she could use more followers because Sokka refused to share his. Sokka had shrugged his shoulders at this and said he could hardly be blamed for being a million times funnier than her. 

 

 **_@ImAPaintedLADY_ ** _: Back home from a summer I’ll never forget!_  
**_@ImAPaintedLADY_ ** _: Can’t find my left sandal…I think I FORGOT to pack it ;)_  
**_@ImAPaintedLADY_ ** _: Feels weird needing to wear a sweater in the evenings again._  
**_@ImAPaintedLADY_ ** _: Ember Island was hot enough for shorts at night. The boys there made it hot enough for even less than that. #amIright_  
**_@ImAPaintedLADY_ ** _: .  @xXNukTukLUVYOUXx When I said less, I meant bikinis. Because Ember Island is a tropical beach._  
**_@ImAPaintedLADY_ ** _: Gran-gran’s not doing too well. Her doctors are stumped :( They’re guessing the climate changes were too much for her body.  
_ **_@ImAPaintedLADY_ ** _: Gran-gran took a turn for the worst. Looking into new doctors and treatment options._

 

Zuko wanted to be there for her. To offer her better words of comfort. To hold her when she just wanted to be held.  He wanted to be able to ask his parents to use their connections to help Katara’s family.

 

 ** _@TastesLikeBlueSpirit_ ** _: @ImAPaintedLADY Sorry to hear about your grandmother. Best of luck._

 

Instead, he stopped using Twitter and returned his focus back to the beach’s gym for the remainder of his vacation.

“Where is that stuck up – move it! I’m giving the new girl a tour! That’s another row of lockers.”

“Is it really necessary to drag me around by my wrist? I promise not to run off.”

Zuko frowned. That voice was far too familiar to ignore.

“Toph, no offense, but I think it would be better if we went showed her the more relevant areas of the school. Maybe even go back for her broth—”

“Ah-ha! Found him!”

“Toph, are you even listening to me?”

“Hey, Zuko! I got a surprise for you.”

“Zuko…?!”

Turning, Zuko felt his heart stop at the sight before him.

Hair down in loose waves and body mostly covered in the reds of the school uniform, Zuko found this far more alluring than the constant state of undress she had been back on the island.

He blinked. Twice.

“Katara…?”

Unthinking, he walked forward, unfazed when his movement was stopped by her body slamming into his. His arms came up to wrap around her just as tightly as she held him.  
  
And just like that, he felt the ball of resentment and defeat that had been in his chest since she left loosen and disappear. Because maybe Azula was wrong. Maybe he didn’t have to move on with his life to make this year his best one yet.

**Author's Note:**

> I've never read or written a zutara high school AU before, so hopefully I did okay with their characterizations...
> 
> Tumblr: avatar-reyn


End file.
